


Tyagamati

by CarminaVulcana



Category: Baahubali (Movies)
Genre: Best Friends, Bhalla's wife, Conversations, F/F, F/M, Gen, inspired works
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-20 23:12:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19386412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CarminaVulcana/pseuds/CarminaVulcana
Summary: Maharani Vallabhi of Saurashtra visits Mahishmati a whole 13 years after her embarrassing ghostly adventure. The purpose of her visit is to meet an old friend.Set in the Silences and Insanities Universe because @Mayavanavihariniharini suggested it. Also, this story is a sequel of the sorts to her amazing story 'Gada Parva.' Vallabhi is her OC and I am so grateful that she allowed me to borrow her for this piece. Shubhra, I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I've enjoyed writing it.Arpita, since you wanted to see an expansion into Vaidehi's life, I have tried to weave that in here. It isn't very much but I hope you like it. You will see more of her in Questions and Uncertainties in the next chapter.





	Tyagamati

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MayavanavihariniHarini](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayavanavihariniHarini/gifts), [arpita](https://archiveofourown.org/users/arpita/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Gada Parva](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18930655) by [MayavanavihariniHarini](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayavanavihariniHarini/pseuds/MayavanavihariniHarini). 



The Mahishmati palace looked no different than it had 13 years ago. The imposing elephants stood in salutation with their stony, laughing eyes while the towering idol of the Adishakti loomed over the barren outskirts of the city.

The Kalakeya had met their doom here. And on this very dirt, the fortunes of Mahishmati had changed hands not long after that bloody battle.

Maharani Vallabhi, Queen of Saurashtra and an ex-suitor of the current Sarvasteera king, sat comfortably in her chariot as she re-lived the last time she had been here.

 _“Ghost! GHOST!"_ She had cried out before fleeing the haunted hallways leading to the palace’s inner chambers.

She had also lost the precious gold anklets gifted to her by the late Queen Mother, Sivagami Devi.

How young and naïve she had been. And how she had fawned over the older prince’s thick hair, his eyes that always sparkled with a hint of carefully constructed boredom and just a touch of grand disdain for all things common.

Sivagami Devi had still deemed her an appropriate choice for him. She had been naïve too. And look where that had gotten her.

The very thought of Sivagami Devi and her horrible end, made something burn inside her. That brilliant, formidable woman had done everything in her power to make Mahishmati the strongest kingdom of the Deccan peninsula. She had single-handedly raised not one but two phenomenal warriors—Bhallaladeva and Baahubali.

And she had met her death at the hands of her sons. Or son. Vallabhi had only heard rumors. She had also received the royal Karpasika Pata from Mahishmati almost 11 years ago, announcing the new status of the once-revered prince, Amarendra Baahubali. The decree had pronounced him guilty for the murders of several people including that of his mother. He had been painted as a criminal, a conspiracist, and a traitor to the crown.

Accordingly, he had been punished.

He was now a prisoner; worse than an outcaste, worse than a slave, worse than the humblest of insects that crawled upon the earth. He was, for all intents and purposes, non-human. Vallabhi had barely exchanged ten words with him all those years ago. He had come across as a polite and courteous young man and even though it was hard to believe that someone like him could have planned the deaths of so many people, she really had no way to find out the truth.

She did not dwell upon what his imprisonment entailed. Nor did she wonder about the fate of his wife, the Kuntalan princess whose beauty and bravery were still talked about in hushed whispers of awe. But she did think about what had become of Kuntala and the gossip that ran amok about a resistance that was brewing in the mountains under the guidance of their old king Jayasena.

As the gates of the capitol inched closer, she forced herself to stop thinking about the rest of Mahishmati and finally managed to focus on the sole reason for her visit-- her best friend Vaidehi, the erstwhile princess of Naveenapuram who was now the queen of this empire.

She was also Bhallaladeva’s wife.

And she was pregnant.

Vallabhi was not married.

She had been engaged a few years ago to the king of Marwar. But his dominating and pompous personality had put her off. Lately, the only offers of marriage had come from wealthy widowed noblemen and small-time regents who ruled under the name of heirs who were still too young to ascend the throne.

At 32, she was past the so-called marriageable age. And while her aged mother still fretted over this fact, she was comfortable ruling the kingdom as a single queen. In a few years, she would adopt a daughter and pass on her legacy and the kingdom to her. Saurashtra would do just fine under women rulers.

But unlike her, Vaidehi had followed the beaten track. She had married into royalty and already produced a son. This was her fifth pregnancy and so far, it was progressing normally, unlike her previous three which had ended in miscarriage.

Again, she did not know the details. But the whispers had reached her ears too—that the princess had been given away to seal a political alliance in which, her marriage to Bhallaladeva would protect Naveenapuram from total destruction and also save the life of the dead king’s wife, also the mother of the princess.

Vaidehi had always been a self-sacrificing sort of child. But this was too much.

Had she really allowed herself to be bartered off?

 _“What would you have done?”_ a snide little voice asked her as the chariot finally crossed the drawbridge.

However, she didn’t have to think about the answer.

Moments later, Katappa, the old slave she recognized from her first visit, greeted her with folded hands as she was helped out of the chariot.

“Namasthe,” he said. “Welcome back to Mahishmati, milady.”

“Thank you,” she said with a small smile.

Katappa took a moment to look at her. His eyes seemed to appreciate the mature, solemn woman she had become.

But Vallabhi had other ideas.

“Is the Swarnajayanti mahal still haunted?” she asked seriously. “And did you ever manage to find out who the mace-wielding ghost was?”

The amused grin that tugged at her lips gave her away.

Katappa only chuckled in response.

“You know who the ghost was all along, didn’t you?” he asked.

“Not really,” Vallabhi’s smile widened. “But I heard all about Maharaj Bhallaladeva’s skill with the mace in the battle against the Kalakeya.”

No more was said as she was led to the hall of royal audiences.

“The ministerial council is not in session right now,” Katappa explained. “The queen requested that your refreshments be prepared in this room. She will join you shortly. Meanwhile, I will have your things taken up to your bedroom upstairs.”

Vallabhi nodded and made herself at home. Her servants followed the slave with her luggage. Only Ratnaben, her personal attendant stayed back.

The two women watched as richly dressed servers brought out bowls of hot lentil soup, curried vegetables, tomato rice, platters of fresh fruit, nuts, and poppadums.

“Their food is so different than ours,” Ratnaben remarked. Refreshments, in her mind, referred to light snacks. This was a whole meal. “They eat such heavy food for all their meals?”

“No, we don’t,” the rebuttal came from the doorway where Queen Vaidehi stood.

“Your Highness,” Ratnaben gasped and dropped to her knees. “I meant no disrespect.”

“I know,” the queen said warmly. “Please stand up. And no, we don’t eat such heavy food for all our meals. But since you have arrived just in time for lunch, I thought we would eat together. As you can see, I am almost eight months pregnant. I could eat all of this just by myself.”

“Wow,” Vallabhi laughed as she pulled her oldest friend into a light, one-armed embrace. “So you finally learned to eat your vegetables.”

“Motherhood teaches you everything.”

Ratnaben quietly slipped out at this point. She knew her mistress would not like to have her privacy invaded by anyone while she was catching up with her friend.

Vallabhi noticed this and silently thanked her mother for giving her such a perceptive and tactful attendant.

“So, how is my beloved, sweltering Saurashtra?” Vaidehi asked she helped herself to some of the fruit. “And please just grab a plate and take what you like. I hope we are still beyond formalities and such between us.”

Vallabhi nodded and took a small piece of poppadum from the platter kept nearest to her.

“Well, Saurashtra is actually better than it used to be,” she said. “We haven’t gone to war with Kutch in the last 12 years. And we have peace treaties with Sindh and Rai Pithoragarh. We are friendly with the Chalukayas, the Palas, and the Rashtrakutas. Persia and Qandahar are our trading partners. Silk merchants from China always stop by our ports before heading to Baghdad. Our treasury is overflowing with gold and there hasn't been a drought since the last Mahakumbh ten years ago. All of this diplomatic wizardry was accomplished by yours truly.”

“Seriously? My God. And no one has rebelled against you yet for being a woman, especially one who is running the show this well?”

“Why will they? Business booms in peacetime. Everyone loves money more than maryada. Who cares if the reason for this stability and prosperity is their loose, possibly homosexual, maybe barren, unmarried queen?”

“They think that of you?”

“They think a lot of things about me.”

“And… are they true.”

“No. I have no time for lovers, neither male nor female.”

“You must be lonely.”

“You would think so, but I am not.”

“Do you… do you sometimes wish Bhallaladeva had not rejected your proposal?”

“Well, I couldn’t have him. But you got him. That’s enough.”

Vaidehi smiled sadly at the implication of those words.

“Is he good to you?” Vallabhi asked.

“He… he is good to me.” There was an ocean of unspoken longing in Vaidehi’s voice as she yet again repeated the lie she had perfected over these many years. She wondered briefly if she had perhaps not fooled her friend.

But Vallabhi gave no indication of having caught her lie.

So, the light mist of untruth hung in the air between them as they moved on to other topics.

Presently, Bhallaladeva came to greet the royal guest as well.

Vaidehi was not surprised. After all, he had told her that he would stop by at some point during lunch.

“I take it the arrangements are to your satisfaction, dear queen,” he said. Like Katappa, he tried to see how much this woman had changed.

Oh, she was stunning as she had been back then; perhaps even more so now that she had filled out a bit and her eyes glowed with a fiery confidence that she had lacked as a teenager.

But her long hair was still tied back in a high bun decorated with flowers and strings of gold. Her lips were still red like the Chinese roses from his personal garden. And her high bosom heaved seductively every time she spoke.

“Please let us know if we can do something else to make your stay with us even more comfortable.”

“Thank you, Maharaj,” Vallabhi answered graciously. She had been worried that she would lose her composure around Bhallaladeva and revert to her teenage fascination on seeing him. But she was proud of herself when nothing of her old feelings stirred within her.

If anything, she noticed the subtleties of his manner and the hint of menace in his eyes that made her glad she had escaped marrying this man.

And in that instant, she glimpsed a measure of what Vaidehi was trying to hide from her.

Bhallaladeva did not stay to eat. She was thankful for that.

For the first time that afternoon, she dared to ask Vaidehi the truth.

“Is he good to you?” she asked again.

This time, the lie did not tumble out effortlessly from the pregnant queen’s lips.

Honesty was the essence of friendship. And one could not lie twice to a friend.

Later that night, Vaidehi stayed awake long past her bedtime. Sleep refused to come to her as she thought about her conversation with Vallabhi.

Her dear friend had achieved so much. She had done so well for herself.

She had also shared a secret with her.

_“My parents received a proposal from Bhallaladeva soon after he imprisoned his brother. But they refused without even informing me. Considering what he had done to Kuntala, they wanted us to stay far, far away from him. I think they told him I was dangerously ill and perhaps would never be able to have a child.”_

_“Is that where stories of you barrenness came from?”_

_“It’s possible but I can’t be sure.”_

Vaidehi had taken a long time to respond after that.

 _“I am glad you are not married to him,”_ she had said at last.

 _“But you are,”_ Vallabhi had retorted. _“It should have been me. Who told you to take my place?”_ Her self-recriminations had been punctuated with tears and underscored by the unsaid plea to leave him behind and run away with her to Saurashtra.

_“For you, I will make an exception… I actually don’t want to spend my life alone. I will make time. We will have a great life together.”_

Vaidehi had been unable to hide her surprise at that. Her mouth had hung open for a whole minute while she digested the meaning of that sentence. Even now, she had trouble believing it.

Besides, as much as she wanted to deny it, the offer had been tempting.

But she had had to say no. She would never allow Saurashtra to become another Kuntala, a pile of cooling ash and crumbling rubble.

For the second time in her life, she had offered herself up to protect a queen and her people from Bhallaladeva’s evil touch.

But at least this time, she had made the choice herself.

Maybe, strength was still hers.

As was courage. And as was honor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
